Paper Mario: The Cosmic Medallion
Paper Mario: The Cosmic Medallion is a turn-based RPG developed by Crash Co. and released for the Nintendo Switch. It is the sixth entry of the Paper Mario series, and returns to the series' roots, having similar gameplay to Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. However, the game is considered to be an evolution of it, with several new mechanics and features being introduced. Most notably, in addition to the reintroduction to partners, several leader characters such as Mario, Luigi, and Peach can be played as, each with their own abilities, similar to Super Paper Mario. Plot The story opens on Lakitu Bros. Scoop, a news station, giving a weekly report. The top story of the week is the upcoming Big Bang Festival, celebrated once every century to honor the creation of the universe. Some of the Mushroom Kingdom's biggest celebrities - Mario, Luigi, and Princess Peach - are taking a rocket ship into outer space, destined for the space colony Lunarlight to represent the kingdom in the festival. At that, Bowser shuts down the TV, upset that he wasn't invited, considering that he is one of the most well-known faces of the Mushroom Kingdom. Ignoring her, Bowser hops in the Koopa Clown Car and heads for the Mushroom Kingdom, planning to get on that rocket as well. Kammy reluctantly follows him on her broom. In the Mushroom Kingdom, Mario and Luigi are getting ready for their space trip. Yoshi is also with them, promising to look over the house while they are away. After saying their goodbyes, the Mario Bros. head for the Mushroom Space Port, where their rocket ship will be launching. Inside, they meet up with Peach, joined by Toad, Toadette, and Toadsworth, who say they will accompany her on the trip. After hearing the ship is set to launch in a few minutes, everyone heads for the rocket ship. However, Bowser crashes through the roof, with Kammy Koopa with him. As Luigi and the others run for cover, Mario stands his ground. Mario pulls out his Hammer and battles Bowser. Throughout the battle, the Koopa king taunts him, while accidentally giving him a tutorial on how to battle, making Kammy upset. Eventually, he is defeated, saying that Mario will pay for this. Kammy Koopa casts a spell to make both her and Bowser disappear. Peach calls Mario from inside the ship, telling him that it will launch very soon. Mario hurries inside, and just then, the ship lifts off into space. Mario, Luigi, Peach, and the Toads are seen floating around in zero gravity, while in another room, Bowser is still laying down from his defeat, with Kammy boasting about how clever she is. Prologue: The End of the Universe!? Eventually, the rocket ship lands at its destination, the Lunarlight space station. Mario, Luigi, Peach, and the Toads exit the ship, and take time to admire the festivities. Peach requests Mario to get some directions on where the VIP area is. Mario agrees, and while wandering around the area bumps into a young Bonneter with a space helmet. Mario introduces himself, and the Bonneter becomes excited. Mario explains that he and the others flew here from the Mushroom Kingdom as special guests from the Mushroom Kingdom to partake in the Big Bang Festival, and is looking for the VIP area. Moon says that she is one of the lead organizers of the festival, and will escort him and his friends immediately. Mario leads her back to the group, where she introduces herself to everyone else. Moon has joined your party! Just before they go, Luigi sees a shooting star and tries to make a wish. After looking closer however, Moon realizes that it's a comet, and it's on a collision course with Lunarlight. With only seconds to react, Moon grabs Mario and pulls him away and in between two buildings; the comet smashes through the space station, sending Luigi, Peach, and the Toads floating off in space, alongside several other citizens. Before Mario or Moon can react, the entire station becomes glowing red, and large holigrams of a mysterious, but shadowy figure appear all over the station. Naturally, everyone in Lunarlight begins panicking, with several citizens running around screaming their heads off. Meanwhile, Moon begins worrying about the Cosmic Medallion being found, and Mario asks what it is. She explains that the Cosmic Medallion is an amulet that created the universe, and has the power to destroy it. Ever since the universe was created, the medallion couldn't be found, but in the wrong hands, it could destroy the universe. However, a large "QUIET!" is heard, which silences everyone. Everyone looks up and sees a large Luma with a Shaman. The Luma, called Mr. Twinkle, says that the universe is in danger now that the Cosmic Medallion has been found, and that this new threat must be stopped. The Shaman, introducing himself as Merlon, steps in and says that there is a way to counteract the Medallion's power. By rehearsing a magic spell while the Medallion is at its full power, it will shut down its power and reverse all of the damage it has caused. While the spell is unknown, parts of it are written on different planets throughout the galaxy, which make the spell when put together. The Luma then asks if there are any volunteers willing to travel and collect these scriptures. Mario steps in between them and negotiates with Mr. Twinkle. The crowd cheers as Mario and Moon are put on the spotlight. Merlon then says that the nearest scripture is located on the planet of Fibbelamia, and Mr. Twinkle offers them his spaceship, which the two board and depart from Lunarlight. Moon thanks him for standing up for her, and promises to help Mario find his friends while on their mission. Mario nods, and they come into the orbit of Fibbelamia. Chapter 1: Tales of Two Cities Mario and Moon's ship lands on the base of a large mountain in Fibbelamia. Moon is excited to start their adventure, and suggests that they should start asking locals for whereabouts of the missing word. Mario agrees, and after the climb up the mountain, find two cities opposite of each other. They first arrive at the west town, Shelldon. Shortly after they enter however, a Frogog is seen running from one town to the other, with a Koopa Troopa chasing him and telling him to give him back his shell. The Frogog also runs into Mario and Moon, stealing all their Coins. Mario and Moon run to the east town of Mossburg. However, once they step inside, a large, purple Frogog throws them out, telling them that no trespassers are allowed in Mossburg. Moon asks Mario what they should do, but before he can answer, a Koopa Troopa and a Buzzy Beetle dressed like royalty fall from the sky beside them. They get back up and begin complaining. Moon asks who they are, and they introduce themselves to the two. Mario and Moon explain to them of the situation with the Cosmic Medallion and the end of the universe, and how they are looking for part of the magic spell that can counteract the medallion's powers and save everyone. They ask if they know the word's whereabouts, and they say that at the base of the mountain lies a secret mine that can only be accessed with an object called the Jade Crystal. It used to be in Shelldon, but Mossburg's thieves stole it for themselves. Mario and Moon thank then for the information, but The King and The Duke insist on joining them, since they will need their help getting around Mossburg. The King and The Duke have joined your party! The group sneaks into Mossburg, using The King and The Duke's abilities to get by. They sneak around town to avoid being spotted by Frogogs, until they reach the museum. They sneak into the building through the roof and find the Jade Crystal. Just as they take it, an alarm is heard, and the purple Frogog from before storms in and takes away Mario, Moon, The King, and The Duke, putting them in barrels. The heroes are released from their barrels in a room with several Frogogs, including the purple one. He introduces himself as Rocko, the second-in-command of the Scale Syndicate. A much larger Frogog also appears, sits behind a desk, and says he is the leader. Moon immediately calls him out for stealing Koopa Shells and Mario's Coins, but the leader says that they only heard half of the story. He says that many of the things they stole belonged to them, and they were stealing them back. Rocko also notices The King and The Duke, and asks if Mario and Moon were tricked by them as well. He then reveals that the two were only using their status of royalty as a guise to rob Mossburg of its items. The two confess to their crimes, saying that the Jade Crystal was going to be their biggest heist yet. The leader says that the group should be thrown over the mountain, but before they are taken away, Mario speaks up. The syndicate leader gets up and pulls a lever, opening a secret passage to the mines below. Mario thanks him as the group head underground. Rocko says that he is only joining Mario for this one time, and after they get the missing word, he will be leaving the group. Rocko has joined your party... for now. The group begins exploring the mines, solving many mysteries to go deeper and deeper. Rocko's strength becomes a big help getting through the mines. Eventually, Mario and co. reach a large, empty room with a stone tablet in the middle. They recognize it as the first word of the spell, but before they can get it, giant jaws rise from the ground and eat it. Then, a large, Piranha Plant-like monster called the Massa-Piranha emerges from the ground and roars. Mario fights it and comes out victorious. The Massa-Piranha retreats into the ground and spits out the stone tablet. You have acquired the first word of the spell - Tiala! ---- In a dark room, three cloaked beings are standing in front of the Cosmic Medallion. On the other side of it is the one who stole it in the first place, though he is kept hidden in shadow. He begins role call for the meeting. A hologram of the Scale Syndicate leader appears in the room. The hologram disappears. Both Randos and Zent disappear, leaving just Rose and the master. Rose bows before disappearing herself, leaving the master to contemplate. ---- After learning the first word, Mario and co. return to the top of the mountain, in between the two cities. The syndicate leader assigns Rocko to keep travelling with Mario and help him save the universe. In the meantime, he says that without Rocko they won't be able to make as many crimes, and agrees to stop stealing from them if the people of Shelldon do the same. They agree, forming peace between the two cities. Mario and Moon board their ship, taking Rocko with them. The King and The Duke say that they want to join Mario on his adventure too, and he reluctantly agrees. They all climb aboard and head back to Lunarlight. Chapter 2: Mysteries of Plantation Station Gameplay Paper Mario: The Cosmic Medallion can be seen as an evolution of the gameplay last seen in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. The core mechanics from that game are brought over, such as battling enemies in turn-based battles, Action Commands for more effective attacks, and partners that can help both in and out of battle. Partners have been enhanced even further. There are now upgrade trees for each partner, allowing them to use a different combination of moves. Every partner has three moves available by default, each from one tree. Players can choose to upgrade their partner in one of the trees, gaining a new attack. Typically, a partner's strongest attacks are the final moves in the upgrade trees. A partner can only have all three attacks from a single upgrade tree, as well as two attacks from another tree. As such, a fully upgraded partner will have six moves total. Additionally, players are able to change how to upgrade their partner whenever they want for free. Battle Cards from Paper Mario: Color Splash appear in this game, though they function a lot differently due to the vastly different gameplay style. Battle Cards now serve as items, and can be collected and sold, though they typically cost more. In essence, Battle Cards allow the player to use a badge move that would normally require FP for free. Battle Cards can also be upgraded to be Shiny, or upgraded further to be Flashy, and deal more damage. Badges Badges make a return, serving the same purpose they did in Paper Mario and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. When the player finds a Badge, they can equip it if they have enough BP. Badges can provide varying effects in battle, such as giving the player new abilities, boosting stats like HP and attack power, or granting certain effects such as dodging enemy attacks or being immune to certain status ailments. For a list of Badges, see here. Partner Cards Partner Cards, previously introduced in Paper Mario: Stolen Worlds, also appear in Paper Mario: The Cosmic Medallion. They have little bearing on the storyline, but still serve their purpose of letting players use partners from previous installments. Similar to collectibles like Star Pieces and Badges, Partner Cards can be found by solving secrets, completing sidequests, and even be purchased in a special shop in Lunarlight. Once a Partner Card is collected, players can use it to summon the corresponding partner, and use them for battles. It should be noted, however, that partners summoned through Partner Cards can only be used in battle and not in the overworld. Additionally, upgrading these partners costs Coins rather than Shine Sprites. For a list of Partner Cards, see here. Main Characters Partners Items Important Items Normal Items Recipes Locations Bestiary Enemies Bosses Gallery Mario CosmicMedallion.png|Mario Moon CosmicMedallion.png|Moon The King and The Duke CosmicMedallion.png|The King and the Duke Rocko CosmicMedallion.png|Rocko Category:Crash Co. Category:Nintendo Switch Games Category:Role-Playing Games Category:Paper Mario (series) Category:Paper Mario Games Category:Paper Games Category:Mario (series) Category:Mario Games